FoGR – Proposed Mendocino Water-Grab Threatens Californians’ Control of Water

“It is the mission of World Water, SA to identify viable bulk water markets around the globe, acquire sufficient water resources in each market area, and enter into long term take-or-pay bulk water contracts, with public or private buyers, to meet delivery contracts while securing an appropriate profit.” — World Water, SA

Alaska Water Exports (AWE), a partner of World Water SA, has set it sights on pumping northern California river water into giant baggies for transport and sale to thirsty San Diego. At first laughed at by incredulous local residents, it soon became clear that Ric Davidge, owner and president of AWE and president and chairman of World Water, SA, is quite serious about implementing this precedent-setting scheme. Like other corporate opportunists, Davidge recognizes the value of “blue gold” — what remains of the world’s precious freshwater resources. Fortune recently stated that in the 21st century water will be “the precious commodity that determines the wealth of nations.”

Large corporations like Davidge’s are rushing to capitalize on the tragic reality that over 1 billion people worldwide have no access to fresh water. Instead of considering water a human right, they view it as a good to sell to the highest bidder, no matter that those who cannot pay will die as a result. Indeed, every eight seconds a child dies from drinking contaminated water. These numbers will only increase as taps are turned off by greedy corporations thirsting for ever higher profits.

The Scheme
Here on California’s isolated north coast we’re well aware of the ripple effect of global issues on our local communities. Even so, we were caught by surprise when the world water crisis crashed like a rogue wave into our backyards last January. This wake-up call mobilized diverse segments of our community, including watershed groups, loggers, fishers, activists, business people, and local governments, to oppose Davidge’s waterbag scheme.

AWE filed applications with the California State Water Resources Control Board to take 8,600 acre-feet of water from the Gualala River and 6,200 acre-feet from the Albion River every year during the rainy season. The company plans to sink a cistern into the river bed at a point above the saltwater intrusion zone. Water drawn into the cistern will be carried by pipe buried in the river bed two to three miles to mooring stations offshore, where it will be pumped into huge bags 800 feet long, 250 feet wide, and 25 feet deep. Each bag will hold approximately 40 acre-feet of water. The full waterbags will be towed by tugboats from the Mendocino Coast to San Diego.

Protecting Our Rivers
The attempted taking of our rivers’ water, our lifeblood, hit a raw nerve in all of us who love our rivers and the life they nourish. One of the biggest fights looming across the Earth is the commodification of water by corporations, and outraged coastal residents joined the fray as soon as news of Davidge’s application hit the press. As we studied the issue we began to realize the enormous environmental, political, and social consequences that could result from giving a corporation title to this water. The Friends of the Gualala River (FoGR), Albion River Watershed Protection Association (ARWPA), and Alliance for Democracy held community meetings and hosted radio shows aimed at educating themselves and the community on these potential consequences. The Mendocino and Sonoma County Boards of Supervisors passed resolutions opposing the waterbag scheme, the California Democratic Party added it to their election platform, and the Green Party is expected to do the same.

The state is expected to notice the public of AWE’s applications on September 13, beginning a 60-day public protest period. Davidge’s applications may be protested under three categories: Environmental, Public Interest, and Public Trust. It’s critical for us to deluge the state with protests. A blank protest form plus detailed instructions and examples of issues for each protest category are available at www.gualalariver.org. Local groups will also hold protest package meetings to help people complete the forms.

Environmental and Public Interest Issues
AWE selected the Albion and Gualala Rivers after studying all the water outflows in the western United States. According to Davidge, these rivers were the only two studied “that could reasonably withstand a take of water, that would not interfere with the ecosystem…” He likens the water collection system to a straw stuck in the river bed. Locals agree that it is the last straw for these already impaired rivers — and definitely a straw that sucks. According to river hydrologist Fred Euphrat, Davidge will need to fill 111 waterbags, pumping one bag per day to take 5,000 acre-feet of water from the Albion. At this rate, more than the average yearly river flow will be removed for seven months of the year. Further, during winter storms, the water will be turbid — full of clay that can’t be filtered out — and unusable. In order to get functional water, Euphrat says Davidge will have to “pump the heck out of the river for about 50 days of the year because it won’t be functional 150 days because of too little water and 100 days when the water is too dirty.”

The environmental consequences are frightening, especially in rivers already impaired from logging. Euphrat and Linda Perkins of ARWPA pointed out that in addition to the amount of water flowing from the river, salinity and temperature will be altered, potentially affecting already endangered Coho salmon and other species. Whale migration routes may be affected by the offshore operations. And, of course, large diesel tugs continuously towing enormous waterbags down the coast will not enhance the beauty of our coastline, the tourism our economy increasingly depends on, or local property values.

International Trade Agreements and the Public Trust
Although AWE is a domestic corporation, it is backed by Japanese, Norwegian, and Saudi interests, all World Water SA partners. One partner, Nordic Water Supply (NWS), is already exporting water from Turkey to Cyprus in waterbags. In its 2001 Board of Directors report NWS states that a memorandum of agreement has been signed with Mexico to deliver fresh water to Mexico’s west coast. I have to wonder where this water will come from.

According to Nancy Price, Alliance for Democracy national co-chair, once AWE gains title to the water, a simple administrative change is all that would be needed to convey that title to one of its partners. If this happened, the water could potentially fall under the international rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO), possibly including the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), the terms of which are currently being negotiated. If this were to happen, the people of California would lose control of their water, with the potential for corporate lawsuits against the state if it attempted to protect this resource.

Even if AWE keeps title to the water, it could fall under the GATS Article II: Most Favored Nation Treatment, which states that each member must provide all WTO members the most favorable treatment provided to a service provider from any WTO member. In other words, it is possible that, under these rules, California would be required to allow corporations from other WTO nations equal access to the same amount of water allocated to AWE, regardless of the environmental and social consequences.

California’s constitution is committed to protecting the Public Trust, and navigable waterways such as the Albion and Gualala Rivers fall under the Public Trust provisions. Transferring control of the water from these rivers to a corporation would be a violation of the Public Trust, something we must make clear when protesting the applications.

“This project will degrade the cultural and spiritual value that we put on this water. Water is life. It can’t be bought with dollars. To all of us who live in these watersheds, the trees, the animals, the fish… that water flows through ourselves. We’ve come to love these rivers. The river going out to the ocean calls the Coho back. It recalls to us the virtue of having that water in our living selves. We are called to defend and guard the river.— Linda Perkins, ARWPA

For more information:
To request the application notice and protest package for the Albion River (#31195) and Gualala River (#31194) contact: Kathryn Gaffney at Kgaffney@waterrights.swrcb.ca.gov, or:
SWRCB
Division of Water Rights
P.O. Box 2000
Sacramento, CA 95812-2000

For detailed info, protest forms, and instructions, go to www.gualariver.org. Also check out www.albionnation.org.

For detailed information on water and international trade agreements, download the publications “Thirst for Control” at www.canadians.org and “Facing the Facts: A Guide to the GATS Debate” at www.policyalternatives.ca